The Sensible Mom

Food, DIY, Chicago Mom Blogger

Reviews

How I Simplify Life with Ivory and Spend More Time with My Family

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Thanks to Ivory for sponsoring this blog post. #IvorySoap

Almost two years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted to simplify our lives and spend more time together as a family.

In order to do that, we made some pretty radical decisions like moving out of our home, selling many of our possessions, buying an RV, and heading to Florida for a fun adventure that brought ourΒ family closer together in so many ways! We lived simply and focused on the important things in life like talking to our kids and teaching them life lessons that’ll help them succeed.

Today, we no longer live in an RVΒ but living that way for the time we did made us realize that when we went back to living in a “regular” home, we still wanted to live simply and small.

So when we went searching for the right home for our family to purchase, we decided on a 1265Β sq. foot home for our family of seven. And guess what? We love it!

The simple life is for us all the way. Plus, living in a small home (just like living in a tiny RV) means that I have less to clean, less clutter, and less money flying out of my pocket because living simply costs less.

More Practical Ways I Simplify Life

Other ways I choose to live simply have to do with my wardrobe, meals, and household products. Basically, I keep a minimal capsule wardrobe, feed my family tasty yet easy-to-prepare meals, and choose household products that are good for my whole family.

Ivory Soap

One product, in particular, that I love is Ivory soap. We use both Ivory bar soap and body wash that are free of dyes and heavy perfumes because they’re gentle and pure enough for everyone in my family to use.

DID YOU KNOW? Ivory has been making soap for over 130 years and continues to use only pure and purposeful ingredients in their products.

So while their packaging is new, sophisticated, and cute, their product remains the same.

Another thing I love about Ivory is that they get my desire to simplify life.

They understand that my family and so many others want to spend more time focusing on the important things in life, so they create products that give us peace of mind and allow us to pay more attention to what matters most.

Those are some ways I simplify life.

How do you choose to live simply? Please share with us in the comments below! πŸ™‚


From Scent Skeptic to Finding a Solution that Works PLUS a Febreze ONE Giveaway! (2 Winners)

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Thanks to Febreze ONE for sponsoring this blog post and giveaway. #ONEStateofMind

I have a strong aversion to perfumes and heavy chemical-laden odors.

So, naturally, air freshener sprays haven’t been my favorite things. In fact, I’ve steered clear of the air freshener aisle in the store for years. I can’t stand the smell of many of the air freshener sprays on the market today, and I don’t want anything to do with them. When I enter a room they’ve been sprayed in, I want to get away to cleaner, lighter air.

And then we started our RV adventure…and living in a small space with six other people made me rethink air fresheners.

This Scent Skeptic Found a Solution

It turns out that living in a small space can produce less-than-pleasant odors on a regular basis, especially during the warmer months. We needed a solution. We needed an air freshener spray that could control and clean away odors without aerosols, dyes or heavy perfumes. We needed an air freshener that would allow us to love the air around us without the use of overpowering scents.

So we decided to try Febreze ONE Fabric & Air Mist. I wasn’t sure it would work for us because we were living in a small space and I didn’t want to use anything overpowering in the air and on the places we sat, ate, and even slept on.

The Verdict

It turns out that Febreze ONE was the solution for us then, and now that we’re living in a regular house again, it’s still the solution for us. In the RV, we mainly used it in the bathroom (of course!), and on the mattress toppers where we spent a lot of our time sitting and sleeping.

I’d simply pull the Febreze ONE trigger all the way back to release a gentle, ultra-fine mist with a light fragrance and then wait for the Febreze ONE Mist to do its work. In the RV, I liked using the mandarin scent, and this scent still triggers good RV memories when I smell it today. πŸ˜€

There are three light, nature-inspired scents available to try: Orchid, Bamboo, and Mandarin. You can use Febreze ONE on the air and on fabrics including rooms like living rooms, bathrooms, closets, bedrooms and the list goes on. Plus, if you have cats and dogs, Febreze ONE is safe to use around them as you can spray it on carpets, upholstery, bedding, and curtains.

Overall, Febreze ONE definitely won me over and changed my perspective of air freshener sprays. They’re truly not all the same, and, in my mind, Febreze ONE is the right choice for my family. πŸ™‚

An OpportunityΒ to Win Febreze ONE Fabric & Air Mist!

Now that you know more about Febreze ONE and my journey from scentΒ skeptic to Febreze ONE user, how about the chance to win a bottle for yourself?

That’s right. Two of my fabulous readers are each going to win a bottle of Febreze ONE Fabric & Air Mist! Details for entering are below. πŸ™‚

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until April 6, 2018, at 12:00 am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winners will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winners an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winners must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end. Otherwise, I will have to draw a new winner(s).

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Which Febreze ONE scent would you like to try most: Orchid, Bamboo, or Mandarin?


How to Make HelloFresh Pork and Poblano Tacos PLUS an RV Living Update

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Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring this video.

Today, I’m showing you how to make delicious HelloFresh Pork and Poblano Tacos plus sharing an RV living update!Β I hope you enjoy the video, and as always, thanks for watching! πŸ™‚

Visit the HelloFresh website hereΒ and new customers can use PROMO CODE: SENSIBLE30 to get $30 OFF their order!Β The HelloFresh Pork and Poblano Tacos recipe can be foundΒ here, and the HelloFresh Recipe Archive is here.

What are your favorite taco ingredients?


Peace of Mind with the Fantastic Logitech Circle 2 Home Security Camera

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Thanks to the folks that work with Logitech for sending us a Cirlce 2 to review and share about on my blog.
All opinions are my own.

Every now and then, I come across a product I truly love.

And I know that I love it because I can’t help but tell other people about it. I bring it up in conversations and go out of my way to show it to people on my phone. I can’t help myself. I have to share it. There are few products I do that for, but one of them is the Logitech Home Security Camera.

The folks that work with Logitech sent me a Logi Circle Home Connection Camera to try out about 2 years ago, and I quickly saw the value in having a home security camera. It offers so much peace of mind, especially where you’re laying in bed at night and hear….a noise.

When that would happen, I’d just reach for my smartphone and open the Logi app to get a view of everything the Logi Circle was capturing in night vision and make sure everything was okay. And, thankfully, it always was.

Here’s our first Logi Circle. We still use it today.

The Logitech Circle 2

Now a couple of months ago, the folks from Logitech offered to send me their next generation of home security, the Logitech Circle 2, for added peace of mind over the busy holiday season.

The Circle 2 is great because it’s weatherproof and can be used indoors or outdoors. Right now, we use it indoors.

It also has better HD screen resolution than our old Logi. Personally, I think the video quality of the Circle 2 is fantastic. If I zoom in, I can literally see what my kids are viewing on their computers. Nice!

With either Circle, another one of my favorite features is the 2-way talk feature. It’s wonderful because it allows me to call the kids down for dinner or talk to them when I’m away from home without me ever having to step in the room. I just open the app, press the talk button, and let the kids know it’s time to eat.

My husband also uses it to let me know he’s trying to call me when I don’t have my phone around. πŸ™‚

Oh, and if your kids get into a little sibling spat, you can find out what really happened with the Circle 2. This was an unexpected benefit I’m thankful for. By checking the video recording (which is saved for one day unless you download it or have a Circle Safe subscription), I’ve been able to get the facts on a few situations with my kids that needed to be dealt with. πŸ˜‰

I can’t recommend the Circle 2 enough. It offers peace of mind and much more.

Do you have a home security camera? Would you consider getting one?